3 Goalies in 1st Two Rounds of 1990 NHL Entry Draft

The 1990 NHL Entry Draft is best known for an outstanding crop of first round skaters, including Owen Nolan, Mike Ricci and Jaromir Jagr. Something that set the 1990 draft apart from other years was the number of goalies picked in the early rounds. It is rare to have a goaltender go in the first round. In 1990 there were two. In fact, over the first two rounds there were three goaltenders selected. Each of the three went on to successful NHL careers.

Trevor Kidd – Calgary Flames

Kidd was taken in the first round by Calgary, eleventh overall out of the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League. Trevor played three years in the WHL from 1988-89 to 1990-91. Most of his time was spent in Brandon until a midseason trade sent him to the Spokane Chiefs in his final year. He was selected as the Canadian Hockey League goaltender of the year for 1989-90. Kidd was on the Team Canada roster for the 1990, 1991 and 1992 IIHF World Junior Championships.

Trevor played in the National Hockey League from 1991-92 to 2003-04 with the Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was picked up by the Atlanta Thrashers at the 1999 Expansion Draft but was traded to the Panthers before playing a game. He finished his pro hockey career with a year in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) with the Hannover Scorpions in 2005-06.

Martin Brodeur – New Jersey Devils

Shame on the nineteen teams that passed over Brodeur at that 1990 NHL Entry Draft. Active in the NHL until 2014-15, Brodeur is not only a given for the Hockey Hall of Fame, likely his three year wait period will be waived, an honour reserved for the chosen few like Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuk, Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky.

Martin was a third round pick of the Verdun Junior Canadiens at the QMJHL Entry Draft in 1989. In 1989-90, Verdun was relocated and became the St. Hyacinthe Laser. Brodeur played with St. Hyacinthe from 1989-90 to 1991-92. The franchise is now the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

Brodeur got his start in the NHL playing four games for the Devils in 1991-92. He became a regular with the club in 1993-94 and has been there since. He holds NHL records for most games played by a goalie, most wins, most shutouts, etc, etc, etc. Martin won the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 1993-94. He has been awarded the Vezina Trophy four times. The Devils have won the Stanley Cup three times and lost in the finals two other times, largely due to the goalkeeping of Martin Brodeur.

Internationally, Brodeur has played in four Olympic Winter Games for Canada. The team won gold in 2002 and 2010. Martin has appeared at the World Championships twice for Canada, winning gold in 2004. That number would have been higher if the Devils had not been so successful in the Stanley Cup playoffs through the years.

Felix Potvin – Toronto Maple Leafs

Another goalie out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Potvin played for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens from 1988-89 to 1990-91. Chicoutimi took him in the second round of the 1988 QMJHL Entry Draft. In 1990-91, Felix was named the CHL goaltender of the year. The following year, 1991-92, he was honoured with the Dudley ‘Red’ Garrett Award as the top rookie in the American Hockey League.

Potvin played in the NHL from 1991-92 to 2003-04 with the Maple Leafs, New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings and Boston Bruins. Known as a decent puck handler, Felix totalled 16 assists over his NHL career.

1985-86 Edmonton Oilers: Stanley Cup Playoff Train Wreck

1985-86 was the year the National Hockey League changed rules to try and keep the Edmonton Oilers from obliterating the league’s scoring records. From 1985 to 1993, the NHL allowed teams to play five on five instead of four on four when coincidental minors were handed out. Unofficially, the rule was changed because the Oilers were unstoppable in a four-on-four situation.

1985-86 was also a year when the Edmonton Oilers should have cruised to a Stanley Cup victory. Instead, they allowed the Calgary Flames to oust them from the playoffs in the second round. The series went the full seven games with neither team winning consecutive games and Calgary outscoring Edmonton by a slight margin at 25-24 on the series. Both Edmonton and Calgary had easily swept in their opening round. The Oilers took out the Canucks in three and the Flames took out the Jets in three. Calgary reached the Stanley Cup final before bowing out to the Montreal Canadiens in five games.

That season, the Oilers won 56 games while losing only 17 and tying 7 for 119 points. The point total was thirty more than the Flames, who were second in the Clarence Campbell Conference. They Oilers were nine points better than the Philadelphia Flyers who were first in the Prince of Wales Conference. Coincidentally, the Flyers were knocked out in the first round by the New York Rangers who finished the season with just 78 points and were two games below .500.

Edmonton players set National Hockey League individual records that season and several still stand today. Of them, Wayne Gretzky’s 215 points and 163 assists are the records that likely will remain for an eternity. Gretzky also tied the NHL mark for most assists in a single game with seven. Paul Coffey scored 48 goals which stands as the most goals scored by a defenseman in one season. Paul eclipsed the previous mark of 46 set by Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins in 1974-75. Coffey also set the record for the longest point streak for defenseman at 28 games.

Edmonton players dominated the NHL’s top ten in the race for the Art Ross Trophy. Wayne Gretzky was 74 points ahead of the number two man in the league, Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who totalled 141 points. Paul Coffey came in third with 138 points, one less than Bobby Orr’s record for defenseman set in 1970-71. Jari Kurri finished fourth in the NHL with 131 points and led the league with 68 goals. Unfortunately for Kurri, the Rocket Richard Trophy didn’t come into existence for another decade and a half.

The Oilers took home the hardware at the NHL awards ceremony in 1985-86. Gretzky was awarded the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer and the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP. The Oilers won the President’s Trophy for the highest point total during the National Hockey League regular season. Glen Sather won the Jack Adams Award as the top coach despite having a team full of ringers and experiencing such a playoff disappointment. Of course, Paul Coffey won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman.

Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey were selected to the NHL’s First Team All-Star team and Jari Kurri made Second Team. Nine Edmonton Oilers players appeared in the NHL’s All-Star Game in 1985-86. Other than Gretzky, Coffey and Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Lee Fogolin, Grant Fuhr, Kevin Lowe, Mark Messier and Andy Moog appeared. Ironically, with such an offensively laden team, their Campbell Conference team lost a low-scoring affair to the Wales Conference squad.

The Oilers learned from their playoff disaster. The following season, Gretzky scored 32 less points, the team scored 54 less goals, had seven less wins and 13 less points. Edmonton still won the President’s Trophy but with only 106 points. Most importantly, they won the Stanley Cup in seven games over the Philadelphia Flyers. As for the Calgary Flames, they lost in the opening round in 1986-87 to the Winnipeg Jets in six games.

Hockey Trivia TV - Episode 3 - San Jose Sharks

This is the more detailed show notes for the YouTube episode number 3 of Hockey Trivia TV. Featured in this episode is hockey trivia related to the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League. It’s been a long time between episodes but interest in the first two has spurred us to carry on with the series. In the video, there are ten trivia questions. Here, there is a bonus with eleven. The video can be found at the bottom of this article.

1. Who was the first head coach in San Jose Sharks franchise history?

George Kingston served as head coach of the Sharks for the first two years, 1991-92 and 1992-93. Over that time, San Jose won just 28 games while losing 129 and tying seven for 63 points or a winning percentage of just .192.

Kingston was a long time head coach of the University of Calgary and spent the two years previous to his time with the Sharks as head coach of Norway’s National Team. He was replaced for the 1993-94 season by Kevin Constantine. George was never a head coach again in the NHL. He did have a stint as assistant coach with the Minnesota North Stars before San Jose and stints as assistant coach with the Atlanta Thrashers and Florida Panthers after his days with the Sharks.

2. What team did the Sharks beat in their first home win?

On October 8, 1991, San Jose hosted the Calgary Flames and won the game 4-3.

3. What team did the Sharks beat in the first road win?

Ironically, it was once again the Calgary Flames. However, it took until November 30, 1991 before they registered that first win away from home. It was another one goal game as the Sharks took out the Flames 2-1.

4. What team did San Jose face in their first ever regular season game?

In the opening game in franchise history, the Sharks took on the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver came out on top by a score of 4-3.

5. Who is the first player to appear with the Sharks and be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Igor Larionov entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008. Igor played for San Jose from 1993-94 until a trade sent him to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Ray Sheppard four games into the 1995-96 season.

Larionov appeared in 921 regular season games in the NHL between 1989-90 and 2003-04 with the Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils. Over that time, Igor scored 169 goals and assisted on 475 for 644 points. He appeared in an amazing 150 Stanley Cup playoff games, adding another 97 points. Larionov was a lowly 11^th round pick by the Canucks at the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, 214^th overall.

6. Who was the first team captain of the San Jose Sharks?

Doug Wilson ended his NHL career with the Sharks, playing 44 games in 1991-92 and 42 in 1992-93. He served as team captain during both those years. Doug played 1,024 regular season games in the NHL from 1977-78 to 1992-93 with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Sharks. The defenseman scored 237 and assisted on 590 for 827 points. In the Stanley Cup playoffs, Wilson played 95 additional games, adding 80 points.

After a stellar junior career in the Ontario Hockey League with the Ottawa 67’s, Doug was the sixth overall pick by Chicago at the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft. He was awarded the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman with the Blackhawks in 1981-82.

7. Who is San Jose’s only Calder Trophy winner?

Goaltender Evgeni Nabakov played 66 games for the Sharks in 2000-01, posting a 2.19 goals against average and recording six shutouts. His first NHL action came in 1999-00 but his eleven games that year meant he still qualified as a rookie.

Nabakov was a ninth round pick by the Sharks way back at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, 219^th overall. He played with San Jose until the end of the 2009-10 season.

8. Who is San Jose’s only Rocket Richard Trophy winner?

Jonathan Cheechoo led the National Hockey League with 56 goals in 2005-06 and remains the only 50 goal scorer in franchise history. Cheechoo was a second round pick by the Sharks at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft after his second of three years in the OHL with the Belleville Bulls. He played with the club through the end of the 2008-09 season.

Cheechoo’s first year with the Sharks came in 2002-03. That year, he had just nine goals over 66 games. On September 12, 2009, Jonathan was traded to the Ottawa Senators, along with Milan Michalek for Dany Heatley.

9. Who has scored the most points in a single season for the Sharks?

Joe Thornton totalled 114 points in 2006-07, his first full season with San Jose. The previous year, Thornton won the Art Ross Trophy with 125 points. However, the first 33 points were with the Boston Bruins with the final 92 with the Sharks. That year, Joe was also honoured with the Hart Trophy.

Thornton was the first overall pick at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, going to the Bruins. At the time, he was a junior with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Joe was traded to San Jose from Boston in exchange for Wayne Primeau, Brad Stuart and Marco Sturm.

10. How many games did San Jose lose in 1992-93?

The answer is 71. No other team in the history of the National Hockey League has lost as many games. In their defense, the NHL had just moved to a 84 game schedule that season from the 80 the year before.

11. What three teams did San Jose beat on the road in 1992-93?

With losing 71 of 84 games, there wasn’t a whole lot of winning going on. San Jose won just three games on the road and eight at home for eleven total. On the road, the Sharks were only able to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets. Of their eight home wins, two each were against the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings with a single against the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators.

Check out the video:

Hockey Trivia: Original Arenas of NHL Teams

These days, it seems an NHL arena doesn’t last more than a few decades before it needs to be demolished and rebuilt bigger and better. Other than a few of the post 1967 expansion teams, all the NHL teams are in new digs. A number of teams have been through several homes during their existence.

Test and expand your knowledge of NHL teams and their original homes with the following four hockey trivia questions.

Q. What was the original home of the San Jose Sharks?

A. The Sharks began in the Cow Palace (aka the California State Livestock Pavilion). The Cow Palace began operation in April of 1941 and housed 11,089 for NHL games. The Sharks played their home games at the Palace for their first few seasons until their present home, the HP Pavilion, was ready for use.

Before the Sharks moved in, the Cow Palace had previously been the hockey home of the San Francisco Seals of the WHL from 1961-62 to 1966-67. The San Francisco Spiders of the IHL called the Cow Palace home for the 1995-96 season. The venue is still active, acting as home rink to the San Francisco Bulls of the ECHL since the 2012-13 season.

Q. What arena was the original home of the Calgary Flames (in Calgary, not Atlanta...)?

A. The Flames moved from Atlanta in 1980 and played their first three seasons in the Calgary Stampede Corral. The Corral was built in 1950 and held just 6,475 plus standing room for hockey. The Flames currently play at the Saddledome.

Still in existence, the longest standing tenant of the Corral was the Calgary Stampeders. The Stampeders played semi-pro hockey in the PCHL and WHL. The Calgary Centennials of the junior WCHL played at the Corral from 1966-67 to 1976-77 before moving to the U.S. to become the Billings Bighorns. That franchise is the present day Tri-City Americans. The World Hockey Association also called the Corral home with the Calgary Cowboys calling it home for two seasons, 1975-76 and 1976-77.

Q. What arena did the modern day Ottawa Senators (1992) first play out of?

A. The Senators played most of their first four seasons at the Ottawa Civic Centre, home of the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s. The arena houses 9,862 for hockey. Like the Calgary Corral, the Civic Centre also housed WHA hockey briefly. The Ottawa Nationals called the arena home for the inaugural 1972-73 WHA season. In 1975-76, the Denver Spurs moved to Ottawa midseason to become the Civics. However, the franchise lasted just two home games before folding.

Q. In their first season in the NHL, 1926-27, the Detroit Red Wings were dubbed the Detroit Cougars. Where did the Cougars play their home games that season?

A. The Cougars played out of the Border Cities Arena in Windsor, Ontario while the Olympia was being built across the river. The Border Cities Arena would later be named the Windsor Arena and housed the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires until 2008. For the Cougars, the Arena was upgraded to seat 9,000. When the Spitfires left the building, the capacity was 4,400 with standing room.

The Spitfires have moved into the WFCU Centre but the old barn remains. The new tenants are the University of Windsor Lancers, a team in the OUA.